Word Direct Answers

tenter

tenter is defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913) with 4 senses. The full text of each entry is reproduced verbatim below.

Definitions

  1. 1.(Mach.) A kind of governor.
  2. 2.A machine or frame for stretching cloth by means of hooks, called tenter-hooks, so that it may dry even and square. Tenter ground, a place where tenters are erected. -- Tenter-hook, a sharp, hooked nail used for fastening cloth on a tenter. -- To be on the tenters, or on the tenter-hooks, to be on the stretch; to be in distress, uneasiness, or suspense. Hudibras.
  3. 3.To admit extension. Woolen cloth will tenter, linen scarcely. Bacon.
  4. 4.To hang or stretch on, or as on, tenters.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

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